One reason for continuing was the various side stories which included more pleasant and believable people.

The other challenge was the tiny font used in the paperback for extracts from Reilly’s own jottings.īut somehow, sufficiently intrigued and as the story progressed, I found myself tuning in to John Kennedy Toole’s humour and attitude towards the world as viewed through Reilly’s eyes. It was impossible to have any sympathy with the extremely vulgar central character, Ignatius Reilly who has no respect for anyone or anything, including social niceties, his long suffering mother and himself. I must confess that I found the early chapters challenging. In case you are interested, the title was derived from a quote by Jonathan Swift: “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” In his foreword, Walker Percy explains how the book came to be published some twelve years after the author’s suicide following depression at his inability to get the book published.

There are two stories here, one in the book and one about the book. Never published during his lifetime, John Kennedy Toole’s hilarious satire, A Confederacy of Dunces is a Don Quixote for the modern age, and this Penguin Modern Classics edition includes a foreword by Walker Percy. Undaunted, he uses his new-found employment to further his mission – and now he has a pirate costume and a hot-dog cart to do it with… But his momma has a nasty surprise in store for him: Ignatius must get a job. Ignatius ignores them, heaving his vast bulk through the city’s fleshpots in a noble crusade against vice, modernity and ignorance. The ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged. Reilly of New Orleans, noble crusader against a world of dunces. Released – 30th March 2000 (First Ed 1980)įormat – ebook, paperback, hardcover, audioĪ monument to sloth, rant and contempt, a behemoth of fat, flatulence and furious suspicion of anything modern – this is Ignatius J.

A confederacy of dunces author